Public-private deal for Sounds ballpark must have no surprises

Nov. 17, 2013

Our View

Seasoned baseball fans get a little misty when they talk about Sulphur Dell. They remember the Vols minor league team that called the park home. They can recall famous major leaguers and Negro League stars who played in the park, torn down decades ago.

By contrast, Greer Stadium, while it has had its moments, seldom is spoken of in such glowing tones. Its team, the Sounds, is hoping to capture that glow by moving to a new ballpark that Metro would build on the ground where Babe Ruth once trod.

Such dreams are hard to make tangible in these times of strained budgets and stagnant economies, but by combining private and public investment, Metro, the Sounds and quite a few partners are going for it.

Mayor Karl Dean, after seeing to fruition the Music City Center and nearby hotel, Korean Veterans Bridge and the 28th Avenue Connector, is being hailed by some for fostering urban growth and criticized by others who wonder whether all the projects are worth the cost. Now, he has unveiled a $150 million ballpark deal.

If all the other projects had not so recently preceded it, $150 million might not raises eyebrows. But let’s look at it in detail, because a deal such as this depends on the details:

• Only a portion of the $150 million, $65 million, is Metro’s (taxpayers’) investment. An additional $50 million is being put up by the owners of the Sounds, and $37 million will come from San Antonio, Texas, developer Embrey.

• Construction of the ballpark itself will cost $37 million; $23 million will be paid to the state of Tennessee for the land; and $5 million will go for capitalized interest during construction.

• The Sounds will pay $700,000 in rent each year for the park, and the team will manage and maintain the park.

The deal is larger than the ballpark itself. The Sounds’ owners gain the opportunity to build a mixed-use development next to the park, as does Embrey, which coincidentally had purchased part of the site for its own mixed-use plan.

The two private development components promise a mix of retail and residential units within shouting distance of home plate.

Then there is the “rest of the deal,” which would seem to have nothing to do with baseball. In exchange for the coveted Sulphur Dell site, the state gets money to replace parking areas lost to the ballpark site. Metro also gains ownership of 28 acres across town where the Metro’s School of the Arts sits.

Why all the moving parts? The mayor says that “by the way this is structured, the cost to the city in actual revenue, year in and year out, is minimal.” That net operating budget impact would be $345,000 per year.

That is good to hear, because it is easy to get emotionally attached to Sulphur Dell, not to mention how the ballpark might benefit nearby Jefferson Street, a district so important to the history and, hopefully, the future of Nashville. But hard data that suggest this still is a great location for baseball are better than hunches.

The deal is being unveiled now primarily because Embrey has to finalize its part of the deal by year’s end. Other steps, such as the Nashville Sports Authority issuing $65 million in revenue bonds, ordinances and transferring tax-increment financing, must follow.

Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling said last week that even if, for example, the Sounds’ mixed-use development didn’t happen, the rest of the deal could proceed, but that could possibly add $1.2 million annually to Metro’s cost. But the people of Nashville and Middle Tennessee need assurance this plan has no “gotchas.”

For this new ballpark to have the rosy glow of summers past, all of the players in this deal — the city, the state, the Sounds, Embrey — have to fulfill their part of the pact.